Chapter 10 – Nightmares and the Morning After
It was four in the morning. Darkness still cloaked the city with no sign of leaving. Streetlights were on but other than that the only light came from the windows and sign of the Pokémon centre.
Nessa walked in front of the centre before heading off down the street. She was huddled in a denim jacket and jeans but the slight trembling of her shoulders could still be seen. Even so, despite the slight seaside chill in the air, it was not the cold making her tremble.
She had woken up numerous times that night, her body painfully jolting awake. Her dreams turned to nightmarish blurs which filled her with a sense of panic. The parts she could remember, she recalled all too clearly.
Rocks tumbling down and crushing her Pokémon.
Being trapped and unable to breath in some unknown place with no one coming to help her no matter how much she screamed.
Finley falling from the sky and landing before her. Helen being washed out to see and disappearing under the waves.
Returning to Verdanturf town and finding it in ruins; this dream had repeated a few times. The town crushed by the same rocks which caved in the tunnel. The town overgrown and the people mysteriously gone. The town in perfect state but just abandoned with no one there to welcome her home.
The choking feeling returned to her throat and she shivered again. By the time four o'clock flashed on the bedside clock and she had once again flinched awake, her body aching from the sudden movement, she had enough of trying to sleep. The more she tried, the more tired she felt the next time she awoke.
Not wanting to stay in the dark room, she had left the Pokémon centre and gone for a very, very early morning walk. Whismur waddled beside her, still carrying her bag.
Nessa couldn't tell whether the Pokémon was unable to sleep, like her, or unwilling to leave her alone.
She found a park bench outside the Oceanic Museum and sat down on it, bringing her knees up to her chin and curling into a ball.
Why had the dreams suddenly gotten worse? She had at least one nightmare a night since the cave-in but she always had been able to get some sleep. Never had they been so frequent, fear-inducing and physically painful as they had that night.
She could see the sea from this bench and she gazed over it to the horizon, praying for the sun to rise. Her nightmares had always seemed so silly by morning but terrifying at night.
The ache in her head wasn't going away either.
She didn't stay on the bench for long. Her body may have been tired but her thoughts wouldn't stop racing and there was a kind of nervous energy flowing through her body that made her move. Walking through the sort of deserted streets, she thought about a lot of things. Most of the time, it was battle strategies. She had learnt a lot from her brother and sister about battling, Pokémon types and Pokémon moves.
She thought about Helen, Finley and whether she was going to continue her journey with them in tow. Her mind flashed to her visions of an empty Verdanturf town and thought that it might be more bearable with other people by her side. But, her intention had been to take this journey alone; with just her Pokémon.
She thought about her brother and wondered what he was up to. Last she had heard, he was in Mossdeep City. Nessa didn't really know where Mossdeep city was; she checked the map and saw that it was part of a really large island off the coast. Some time was spent wondering what Mossdeep city was like.
Sometimes, she would recall and visualise parts of her nightmares. They always made her cringe and take a few quick steps. She thought about anything and everything to keep her mind off them.
Slowly, the sun began to rise. She first spotted the rays of light over a few two story buildings. Seeing them made her feel better, hopeful, and she walked to the beach to watch the sunrise.
She was thankful to see that she wasn't the only one. There were quite a few people on the beach. Some were walking, some were battling and some were watching the sunrise as well.
Nessa glanced up when a flash of white caught her vision. A wingull glided across the sky and she followed its trail with her eyes.
"Steve, Supersonic!" Finley called out, punching the air with his fist.
He was awake and energetically battling and Nessa was surprised to see him. Her heart did a little jolt as Steve the Wingull dropped towards the beach and fired supersonic waves that rippled the air at the opposing Gulpin.
The opposing trainer, a young tuber girl, was not happy about this development.
"Gulpin, Pound!" she ordered fiercely. She jumped in surprise as her Pokémon ran into one of the many parasols set up on the beach. The parasol was toss from its spot on the sand and dropped to the ground, Gulpin sprawled out on top of it like a green beach ball with no air left.
"Wing attack!" Finley ordered, seizing the opportunity. Steve plummeted from the sky and buffeted the Gulpin with his wings, sending the other Pokémon bouncing across the sand.
Automatically, Nessa moved to intercept the flailing Pokémon before it travelled too far. She caught it in her arms and dropped it to the ground. It was a heavy Pokémon despite its size. And it was obviously knocked out.
The tuber girl returned the defeated Pokémon to its Pokéball. She was obviously holding back tears; her face blotching red and pools of water forming in her eyes.
Nessa internally cringed; she hated it when kids cried.
"Hey," Finley said in a soft voice, dropping to the girl's level. "That was a great battle. You should be careful when your Pokémon is confused, they do sometimes hurt themselves. Here." He pulled something out of his bag and passed it to the girl. Nessa craned her neck to see what it was; a sparkling sticker shaped just like the round green Gulpin. It was as big as her thumb and the girl accepted it with a sniffle.
"Just like in the market, I give you something and you pay me," Finley explained, holding his hand out expectantly.
By this time a few tears had leaked out the girl's eyes but she was smiling as she looked at the sticker. Nessa couldn't help smiling at the exchange and teasingly thinking that only Finley would take money from a crying kid. And only Finley could take money from a crying kid while making onlookers think 'aw, how cute.' Nessa wasn't thinking it though, she was above such things.
Finley shot a glare at her and she smiled back innocently. She hadn't thought it but she had said it. Out of the kid's earshot, of course.
"Helen's not with you?" were the first words out of Finley's mouth as he glanced around.
Nessa was slightly annoyed that his first thoughts were of the whereabouts of his sister but, she squashed that feeling.
"No," she responded. They had been together the previous morning, so he had reasons to assume they would be together this morning.
He gave her a strange look which was only interrupted by Steve landing atop his head.
"So, what are you doing out here?" Nessa asked.
"Finding people to battle," Finley responded with a smile, "you?"
"Watching the sunrise," she responded. His response didn't sound like the truth but she hadn't told the whole truth either. This was further proven by the awkward silence that followed.
Finley broke the silence first.
"You doing okay?" he asked. Her head shot up and he was quick to add, "I notice you had Whismur carrying your bag."
Nessa glanced down at her forgotten Pokémon, only to find that he had moved while they were talking. Her bag was sitting on the sand while Whismur was spread out across one of the white sunning chairs which, like the parasols, were placed around the beach for public use. His yellow-tipped, long pink ears hung over his eyes, shading them from the risen sun.
"I'm alright," she responded, her voice sounding distant to her ears, "a little stiff and sore but I guess that's normal." She didn't mention that she had problems getting dressed because she couldn't raise her arms above her head; they were too stiff and ached when she moved them higher than her chest.
He nodded but she didn't think he fully believed her. The wince he gave when he pulled his own bag onto his shoulders was enough to show that he was probably suffering the same.
"How about some breakfast?" he asked and she was suddenly reminded of Helen the previous morning.
"Let me guess, you know a place?" she said smugly, although she was grateful for the invitation. Her stomach grumbled.
"They do the best waffles!" he announced, launching into a story about how he found the place and the first time he had been there.
Finley had been right; they did make good waffles. Although, Nessa hadn't really had waffles with ice-cream and chocolate topping towered on top before.
Finley waited until she was partway finished before speaking.
"You sleep alright?" he asked simply. Nessa's hand paused, spoon almost touching her mouth.
The question could have been taken many different ways and she wondered if that was why he had asked it so plainly.
"I guess," she responded. It was partly the truth as the Pokémon centre had rather nice beds. They were soft and she had been able to spread out, much better than a bench or chair. "And did you sleep well?"
He paused as well and the awkwardness increased.
"I should have sleep like a log after yesterday," he said slowly, taking a sip of his coffee. "Maybe there was still some adrenaline in my system or something but, I didn't have a very good night."
Well, if he could admit it, "same here."
Another awkward moment of silence and Finley sighed.
"They say that talking helps."
"They?" Nessa questioned.
"Helen."
"Oh. You want to talk about it or something?" The hesitance in her voice was for herself as she didn't know whether she wanted to talk about nightmares. Besides, the sun was shining softly through the windows and her fears now seemed childish and embarrassing.
Finley took another sip of his coffee, swirling the liquid around in his cup.
"Times like this, I wish I had a psychic Pokémon or one that knew Dream Eater. I've heard that you can get a really good, dreamless night of sleep if you have your Pokémon use that move on you. And they get a good meal out of it as well."
Nessa nodded to show that she was listening and he continued;
"You know, I didn't want to be a Pokémon trainer. I didn't want to take the gym challenger, collect badges or any of that."
Nessa raised an eyebrow at this. Finley seemed a lot more subdued than normal, or maybe he was acting like himself and had been showing her a happy-go-lucky mask.
He saw her expression and was quick to backtrack and reassure her, "don't get me wrong, I love my Pokémon and battling is fun. I also like meeting new people." And subdued again. "But, I don't like being away from home."
"Didn't you just see them?" she questioned, remembering that they met when the two siblings were leaving after visiting their parents in Petalburg.
"Yeah, and then I had to leave again," he sounded annoyed, "because Helen's determined to complete the league challenge and she managed to trick me into coming." He flung his hands in the air and his voice once again held that overdramatic tone. "And since I already have two badges, she thinks I should get the rest!"
His words might have been serious but his tone and actions weren't. So, by the end of his rant, Nessa was suppressing a smile.
"So, how about you?" he asked, "how are you taking your journey? I'm guessing you miss your mum?"
Nessa glared at him but her now jolly mood kept her glare friendly.
Finley set his hands on the table and leaned forward, his face serious.
"Talking about it helps."
She couldn't help it, he was just ridiculous, and she laughed.
"Okay, you win," she gasped between giggles. She calmed down before continuing, "I've been having nightmares about when the tunnel collapsed and last night, they kept me from sleeping, that's all."
"Hmm," Finley comically stroked his chin as he thought. Then, he said, "well, I know one thing for sure. If you ever do end up in a tunnel collapse, that guy there will protect you." He pointed at Whismur, the little around bunny-like Pokémon currently napping atop Nessa's bag.
"He may look small, but Whismur can normally cry for wild cave Pokémon to help. I believe he'll call for help if you're in danger."
Nessa glanced down at her little Pokémon and found herself imagining him leading an army of little Whismurs like himself.
He'll call for help if you're in danger.
"Thanks, Finley," she said.
He held up his coffee mug in salute.
"How about a battle later, as thanks?"
Author's note: Expect a battle next chapter.
Also, I'd love to know what people think about my characters and the way they are written.